For the October issue XXL switches it up with two split covers built off of the same crew. Riding high off the success of their compilation album, Self Made, Vol. 1, Rick Ross and his Maybach Music Group signees—Wale, Meek Mill and Pill—all grace the cover of XXL’s forthcoming issue on two joint covers: a Ross solo and an MMG group cover showing both sides of Ricky Ross, as a solo artist and a boss.
Ross and his new team of young MCs are focused on taking over the rap game in the coming year, and The Bawse—who is hard at work on his fifth solo disc, God Forgives, I Don’t, scheduled to drop via Def Jam Recordings this fall—predicts to XXL contributing writer Ben Detrick that he’ll finally be crowned king with the new LP.
“I’m enjoying my last few moments at No. 2,” Ross says. “It’s like I’m watching the No. 1 man on stage, my legs crossed, I’m smoking big, hollering at the bitches in the crowd. And this album gonna do it. I got the formula.”
What is The Bawse’s full-proof equation exactly? As he describes it, it’s nothing more than inspiration from the R&B greats.
“When I make music, I go back to my late nights of me by myself, listening to Curtis Mayfield or R. Kelly’s 12 Play,” he says. “There’s certain depths that music can take you to. There’s certain feels that you need to have. When you get to the last song on the album, I want you to have that feeling of being whole. I want to give these muthafuckas classic joints. That means more to me than anything else.”
Recruiting some of hip-hop’s most promising, up-and-coming talent doesn’t hurt Ross’s chance at claiming rap’s top spot on the food chain either. Asked why he decided to reach out and associate himself with such a broad range of MCs including Meek, Wale, Pill and Stalley, Rozay said it was important to help give other artists a chance he felt wasn’t offered to him when he started out.
“To me, it don’t matter where you from,” he says. “I come from a time and place when Miami wasn’t the most poppin’. Everybody wasn’t as eager to open they door, give you a hand. For me to be in this position, I want to make sure I do the opposite that a lot of these niggas did.”
XXL’s new executive editor, Jayson Rodriguez, moderated a roundtable discussion between MMG stars Wale, Meek and Pill, to find out about each rappers role in the crew, what MMG represents as a team and what gives them an advantage over their competitors.
“I think it’s a plus that everybody got their own fan base, they got their own thing rocking in their own city, and they got their own representation of what they stand for,” Pill says. “So when everyone comes together, that’s all the fan bases combined. It’s a blessing to be able to rock with a bunch of different guys that are passionate about the craft and that know where they going and actually can foresee the future, when it comes to their music. I think that gives us a stronghold and a bit of longevity. And kind of an advantage also.”
In addition to cover stories on Rick Ross and MMG, XXL’s October issue includes features with controversial West Coast rap star Game on the heels of his latest release, The R.E.D. Album and Jay-Z protégé J. Cole, as he prepares to drop his long awaited debut LP, Cole World: The Sideline Story.
In a special exclusive XXL also followed DMX, newly released from jail on his first day home and in this studio following seventh-month jail bid in Yuma County, Arizona. Also XXL went behind bars for an in-depth discussion with former Terror Squad femcee Remy Ma, who is currently serving an eight-year sentence for shooting a friend. Remy’s husband Papoose also weighed in on the trials and tribulations of holding a woman down while she’s locked up and what their relationship entails.
The phenomenon of the 40-year-old rapper having lively careers these days is also explored in a special investigative piece and XXL breaks down Odd Future in a family tree.
Be sure to pick up XXL’s October issue hitting newsstands nationwide on September 20. Also check out XXLMag.com for special video of the issue, outtakes, everyday hip-hop news and much more. —XXL Staff
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